Press/Events

MAGIC GARDENS: THE MEMOIRS OF VIVA LAS VEGAS, by Viva Las Vegas (Available NOW at this site, Powells.com & Amazon.com)

HERE’S WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT MAGIC GARDENS:

• “Pure Viva.” —Gus Van Sant, filmmaker, MILK
• “Hers is the classic American tale of wanderlust, updated for the 21st Century…. In the sea of memoirs…Viva’s story is an island.”
  —Andrei Codrescu, author, Jealous Witness: New Poems
• “Seeing life through this broad’s eyes is a strange and beautiful blessing the likes of which words bring.” —Nick Tosches, journalist & author, King of the Jews
• “Magic Gardens is no mere memoir—all snap, verve, and eloquence, it is the how-to manifesto of a Diva of the Demimonde, and a love song to life on the shady side.” —Katherine Dunn, author, Geek Love

RECENT PRESS for MAGIC GARDENS:

• The Oregonian (April 11, 2010): “Sex and the City of Roses,” by Peter Ames Carlin (NOTE: the online article also features a wonderful video interview with Viva during one of her shifts at Portland’s landmark Mary’s Club.)
• C-Change Media Blog (February 18, 2010): “Where Great Journalism Still Thrives,” by John A. Burn (This post highlights Viva’s Portland Monthly article “The Last Days of My Left Breast“ as one of eight pieces of note among the many that Mr. Burn recently judged for the City and Regional Magazine Awards at the University of Missouri’s Journalism School. Winners will be announced in June 2010.)
• The Scavenger online magazine (February 18, 2010): “Stripper with Breast Cancer: Interview with Viva Las Vegas,” by Katrina Fox
• The Williams Record (December 9, 2009): “In New Memoir, Stripper Alumna Advocates the Art of Exposure,” by Heath Goldman
• OPB “Morning Edition” interview (Aired December 8, 2009): “Magic Gardens: A Stripper’s Memoir of Work and Life,” with/by host Geoff Norcross
• Portland Monthly “Bar Pilot” Blog (October 12, 2009): “Las Vegas Lit: Book Release for Local Lass is a Sizzling Soiree,” by John Chandler (*Includes a slide show of images from our October 6 release party at Dante’s in Portland)
• KGW Interview (Aired October 6, 2009): “PDX Tonight, Live @ 7” Show
• KOIN 6 Interview (Aired October 6, 2009): “Keep It Local” Show
• KGW Interview (Aired October 5, 2009): “Cancer Survivor’s Memoir Strips Away Stereotypes,” Article by Amy Troy
• Exotic Magazine (October 2009): “The Gospel on Breast Cancer” (with Viva Las Vegas), by Mariah F. Whitley
• TheRumpus.net (September 28, 2009): “Magic Gardens: The Rumpus Interview with Viva Las Vegas,” by Antonia Crane
• September 1: An interview on Portland’s Ed Forman Show
• Heron and Crane Productions (August 30, 2009): “The Biography Podcast,” hosted by Chris Gondek
• Dave Jarecki.com (August 28, 2009): “Interview with Viva Las Vegas“
• The Portland Mercury (August 26, 2009): A premier book excerpt
• The Daily Beast article by Melissa Lion (August 2009): “The Stripper Who Lost a Breast“
• Author Bonnie Belgum review on Buzzaroonie.com (July 2009)
  
• Portland Monthly article by Viva Las Vegas (March 2009): “The Last Days of My Left Breast”
• Be sure to visit vivacide.com for more info on Viva Las Vegas

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Nothing is scheduled at this time.
  

SNEAK PEAK MATERIALS:

• June 2009 press release
• Tip sheet
• Sample chapters

GIVE MY LOVE TO EVERYBODY: LETTERS FROM A WORLD WAR II SOLDIER, Edited by Jennifer Weaver-Neist (June 2009)

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• November 16, 2010 (7 p.m.): Walter’s Cultural Art Center’s “Spoken Word” series, featuring Give My Love to Everybody in a special event honoring Veteran’s Day (more details to come…)

RECENT PRESS for GIVE MY LOVE TO EVERYBODY:

• Women Inc. magazine (November 2009): “What Are You Reading?” by Nina Patten, womenincmagazine.com
• Fairmont Sentinel (June 30, 2009): “Fairmont Native Brings Soldier’s Tale to Life”
• Lancaster Sunday News (June 14, 2009): “Letters Tell of One of Quarryville’s War Dead”
• Ancestry Magazine article (May 2009): “Revisiting Our World War II Heritage”

HATE MAIL, by m. m. garcia (June 2007)

ACCOLADES and OTHER TIDBITS for HATE MAIL:

• Inside Ink newsletter (Feb. 25, 2009): “Bleatings from London! More from the m. m. garcia Tour”
• Inside Ink newsletter (Dec. 24, 2008): “Bleatings from London! An m. m. garcia Tour”
• April 21, 2008: Hate Mail Wins Design Award (pdf)
• May 14, 2007: Hate Mail Launch / Press Release (pdf)
• Get an extra dose of cheekiness at m. m. garcia’s website, ilovehatemail.com

FROM RANT TO ZINE TO PUBLISHED BOOK

Local writer m. m. garcia’s previously self-published zine, Hate Mail, has been picked up for national publication by Dame Rocket Press. Hate Mail will be released June 13, 2007. Authors Aimee Bender (The Girl in the Flammable Skirt), Zoe Trope (Please Don’t Kill the Freshman), and sublimely controversial cartoonist John Callahan have already expressed interest in reviewing the book.

Citing the gap in the greeting card industry regarding cards that express feelings of annoyance and cynicism, Garcia declares: “My mission is to quell the anger, and my product is Hate Mail.” Garcia takes the notion that “mean people suck” to a different level. In Hate Mail she tells them why they suck. The book contains a collection of stories with corresponding “anti-greeting cards^TM“.

The zine version of Hate Mail was first released in 2006 at the Portland Zine Symposium—a yearly event that showcases independently created art. The initial inspiration for the book sprung from the positive feedback Garcia received after posting a rant on craigslist.org.

“I was frustrated with my job and I started writing a rant on craigslist…I was just writing to keep myself from screaming at someone… [then] I started getting emails from strangers commending me on my rant. Most people just said I was hilarious, but one even offered to help find me a new job! It turned out that my rant had made it onto ‘the best of craigslist,’ and I probably got more than fifty messages from people all over the country. I guess I realized that I was on to something.”

When the deal with Dame Rocket was finalized, Garcia says she went on a “two-day freak-out” knowing that people from her past would read her book. “It’s a little bit scary to relinquish control of my project,” Garcia said. Now, however, she’s very excited about the publication, and is relieved that she no longer has to worry about the production of the books herself.

Eight specially designed cards accompany the stories collected in Hate Mail. Portland-area readers of Hate Mail will recognize several references of cultural significance such as the Willamette River, Tanya Harding, and The Satyricon, where Courtney Love’s band, Hole, got its start.

The book launch will take place at The Someday Lounge, June 13, at 7:30. After her reading, m. m. Garcia will sign copies of her book while local bands, Pocket Parade and Yoyodyne, play a free concert.

Eclectic and passionate, the press publishes works that emphasize pioneers in all walks of life and time. From nonfiction biographies to children’s books and women’s stories, it seeks to share the voice of lived-and-learned experience—a connection among readers and nature alike. Dame Rocket Press is an imprint of Ink & Paper Group, LLC.